Product Transfer Orders

The purpose of this document is to explain the Product Transfer Order section of www.transport4.com.  

What is a PTO (Product Transfer Order)?

A Product Transfer Order, (PTO), is created when one party, the seller, desires to transfer ownership of a physical barrel while the product is in the custody of a carrier.  

Each carrier has different rules around who can initiate a PTO request though all require both a buyer and a seller at the time of entry.  The “trading chain” can be added or changed at any time.

A PTO can be changed until it is locked, which follows the same deadlines as nomination changes. 

Buckeye, Energy Transfer Gulf Coast NGL (ETG), West Shore, Hattiesburg, and Explorer use Transport4 for PTOs. The buyer or seller can create a PTO for every carrier except ETG or Hattiesburg.  For those carriers, the seller must create the PTO.

Colonial utilizes adding event types in the nominations event tool to create its IPTT transactions.

PTO Screen Layout

The Product Transfer Order section allows you to Maintain a PTO, Search for a PTO, Add a PTO, and Confirm a PTO.  The main screen above, the Dashboard, is designed to let you maintain and view your Most Recently Entered/Changed PTOs. 

Dashboard

Search

Basic Search – The basic search allows you to utilize the most often-used search options to find a specific PTO. The easiest two ways to search are with the Batch Code or the PTO number.  You can also enter portions of the batch code as well, such as Company, Stop Date, Date Created, Last Changed, and Ticket Number. 

Advanced Search – In the “Advanced Search” section, you can also search by PTO Type, Product Type, From Acct To Acct, Carrier Confirm Status, From Shipper Confirm Status To Shipper Confirm Status, and Include Deleted.  To start an advanced search, click on the “Advanced Search” button and the window below will open (1). 

Add PTO – To add a PTO, click on “Add PTO” from the toolbar (1).  

The information that is needed is listed below.  Carrier, From Shipper (Seller), Product, Cycle, Sequence (Seq), To Shipper (Buyer), Product, Cycle, Location, and Volume are all required. 

Any items below that are required will be in red text. 

1. Carrier Info
   1. Choose the Carrier from the drop-down menu.
   2. Type – Choose this option based on who is filling out the PTO, the seller or the buyer.
2. From Shipper
   1. Shipper
   2. Product
   3. Cycle
   4. Seq – Sequence 
   5. SCD
   6. Year
   7. Shipper PTO ID
   8. Contact Info
   9. Remarks
   10. Instructions to Carrier
3. To Shipper
   1. Shipper
   2. Product
   3. Cycle
   4. Seq – Sequence 
   5. SCD
   6. Year
   7. Shipper PTO ID
   8. Contact Info
   9. Remarks
   10. Instructions to Carrier
4. Location and Volume Info
   1. Location
   2. Volume
   3. Units
   4. Requested Flow Date
   5. Expires
   6. This is the day that the PTO expires when the counterparty has not confirmed the PTO.
   7. Distribution/Line Up

Update and Add Nomination

Once the PTO is entered, the seller will need to update their nomination to reflect the PTO changes.  The buyer will need to add a new nomination.  This can be done before or after the PTO is confirmed, but it must be done.

Confirm PTO – An “Confirm/Grant” alert will be created when a PTO is created.  You can confirm the PTO via the Alert, or you can go to the “Confirm” tab on the PTO toolbar (1). 

Confirm a PTO from the PTO “Confirm” Tab

Click “Confirm” on the PTO Toolbar.  Any pending PTOs will be in the Search Results screen at the bottom of the page.  If you don’t see it listed, you can always search for the PTO using the search functionality at the top of the page.  

Find the PTO that you need to confirm, and click “Confirm/Reject” under the Status tab.  

1. Click “Confirm/Grant” on the “Status” line of the PTO that you are working with. 
   1. A new window will open.  Verify that all of the information is correct, and at the bottom of the page, click “Confirm”. 
   2. You will receive a confirmation notice on the screen.  Click “Close”.

Confirm a PTO from an Alert

You must be signed up for Alert Pushes if you are going to receive pushes for Confirming/Rejecting PTOs.  If you are not sure if you are receiving these alerts, contact your T4 company administrator or the T4 Help Desk.

Counter (Buyer) parties on a Buckeye or West Shore PTO must confirm the PTO before the carrier will complete it.  If this is a PTO for any other carrier, you just need to update and add your Nominations. 

In order to confirm an alert click on “Alerts”.  The number next to Alerts in the header will tell you how many categories have alerts available. 

The “Alerts Dashboard” will open and you can either search using the search criteria on the left (or you can use the “Quick Search” section.  

Click on the number under “Pending” next to the “PTOs” – “Confirm or Grant” fields and the “PTO Alerts” will become available at the bottom of the screen. 

1. Click “Confirm/Grant” on the “Status” line of the PTO that you are working with. 
   1. A new window will open.  Verify that all of the information is correct, and at the bottom of the page, click “Confirm”. 
   2. You will receive a confirmation notice on the screen.  Click “Close”.

Explorer Pipeline PTOs 

The PTO location on the PTO is the facility code where the PTO will be executed (WDR = Wood River, GLN = Glenpool).  The receipt and delivery locations on the nomination will be the unique location code and are different for each event.

Chart of PTO and Nomination locations

ETG Pipeline PTOs

ETG PTO "Past Date" Business Rules

Past Dated Product Transfers (PTOs) can be entered by shippers up to 5 pm CT on the second business day after the end of a month.

• Weekends and Holidays are not counted in this time period.  If the month ends on a holiday/weekend, shippers can backdate a PTO up to the second business day of the following month. 
• Carrier Employees can backdate PTOs until the month is formally closed

Example: Shippers can backdate a PTO for April 2024 until 5 pm CT on May 2nd.